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I was in an airport & saw some people putting down carpet tiles. I have a
high traffic commercial building that needs new carpet. Can this type of
stuff be installed over plywood subfloor?
Thank
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The Carpet and Rug Institute's Standard for Installation of Commercial Textile Floorcovering Materials (what we'd call carpet, I'd guess), CRI 104, allows for wooden subfloors under the following conditions:
1. A minimum of 18" of air space beneath the wood for ventilation.
2. Proper installation of the subflooring, including filling joints and sanding smooth any rough areas. Old flooring must be free of loose paint and oils or else covered with an underlayment.
3. Sanded and new floors should be primed.
My organization has used the self-sticking carpet tiles as are available from C&A. A proprietary contact cement is applied and allowed to dry. Then the tile backings are peeled off, and the tiles put in place. This is used in high traffic ares, and the tiles have never lifted from traffic or cleaning. If you anticipate frequent replacement, use a carpet tile for the traffic area that contrasts or complements the field (non-traffic) carpeting colors. If only one color is used for both traffic areas and field areas, replacement tiles won't match later on (different dye lots, newness, etc.).